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Yellowhead Trail East widening team member Mike Bindas (third from left) speaks with visitors during a public meeting at Abbotsfield Recreation Centre on the Yellowhead Trail Freeway Conversion Program in Edmonton, on Wednesday, July 17, 2019. Photo by Ian Kucerak/PostmediaIan Kucerak/Postmedia

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The $1-billion Yellowhead Trail freeway conversion project, meant to smooth the flow of traffic, could create more noise in neighbourhoods like Abbottsfield, residents at a public engagement event said Wednesday night.

“We don’t want to see it bigger, but there is no stopping progress,” said Dan Tavenier, whose home backs on to what will be a freeway.

Yellowhead Trail changes will smooth traffic, but residents worry about noiseBack to video

One section of Yellowhead Trail will be widened to three lanes in each direction from 50 Street east to the North Saskatchewan River, a segment that passes by the Abbottsfield, Beacon Heights, and Bergman residential neighbourhoods.

Tavenier said he believes it will probably make traffic safer and create better access, but his big concern is with traffic noise.

“So we’re looking for a noise wall, if at all possible, on top of the berm,” he said at a public engagement session in Abbottsfield hosted by city planners. The area already has a noise attenuation fence stretching from Victoria Trail to 35 Street, and a noise-controlling earth berm, or small ridge, shielding noise up to 50 Street. But the berm isn’t completely continuous, with a break at 47 Street.

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The city will be doing a noise assessment as part of its design process, and if it determines that noise would go above tolerable levels, will consider adding walls or berms, said Kris Lima, director of the Yellowhead Trail portfolio at integrated infrastructure services.

“We’ll make sure we’re within tolerable noise levels,” said Lima.

Along with widening the freeway, the city’s preliminary plan involves redesigning ramps at 50 Street and reconfiguring southbound ramps at the Victoria Trail interchange, making it safer for motorists when merging into freeway traffic. Instead of two lanes merging, only one will merge onto the freeway, and traffic will have more space for acceleration.

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In other areas along the 24-km Yellowhead Trail, intersections with lights will be removed.

Some nearby residents, like Kim Earle and Chris Earle, whose home is on the south side of Yellowhead Trail, said they are concerned that removing the 66 Street intersection could cut the neighbourhood off, and force them to make a massive detour to access services.

“It’s a big inconvenience. Who is going to want to live next to a highway, with no access to the north side?” said Kim Earle.

The city is considering closing the intersection at 66 Street but there are other options, including a partial interchange or an underpass for the Yellowhead, said Lima.

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“It’s a legitimate concern, and we’ve been out to that community several times. We try to balance the requirements of the program with business needs and community needs,” said Lima.

City planners will come back in the fall with design recommendations and will host an outdoor public engagement session next Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. aimed at cyclists and those who use the shared path next to Victoria Trail. Construction is expected to begin in May, 2020, and widening work on the eastern section of the freeway to be finished in 2021.

The goal of the entire freeway conversion project is for vehicles to travel along the corridor without stopping at traffic lights by 2027.

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